Chapter 165: Step of Verdiction
Ash looked near the heart. The spirits were standing far too close to one another—so tightly packed that there was absolutely no space for him to teleport.
After all, if he tried to teleport into a spot that was already occupied, his skill would fail to activate.
It was one of the more annoying drawbacks he had discovered about Transcendent Step during his countless trials.
Without wasting time, Ash spoke through the communication artifact in their ears, his tone calm and composed.
"Plan B."
Hearing those words, Serena gave a small nod, not even turning her head in his direction. She already knew what it meant.
Ash gripped the Sealing Dagger firmly in his left hand, while his right hand wrapped around the familiar hilt of Eclipse. Without hesitation, he moved.
Using Transcendent Step , Ash vanished and reappeared far above the army of demonic spirits.
Though many of them hovered mid-air with their twisted elemental forms, Ash positioned himself even higher, where he could see the entire battlefield spread out like a corrupted tapestry.
At that very moment, multiple spells activated around him in rapid succession, like a blooming storm of magical brilliance.
{Lightning Reflex}
{Lightning Step}
{Verdiction}
With his movement sharper than ever, he used the back of a mid-ranked spirit as a foothold and launched himself downward like a divine bolt of judgment falling from the heavens. He was fast enough that the air around him buzzed.
Behind him, replicas of Eclipse began to take shape. Each one forged from pure, condensed life mana.
Their numbers increased rapidly, multiplying until more than two hundred ethereal blades followed in his wake.
The mana cost was extreme, but Ash had already calculated it in advance. Everything was prepared for this moment.
As he sped toward the demonic heart, Ash thought to himself, Huff... Let’s do this.
Channeling space mana, he infused Eclipse with its power.
Over the last month, besides his focus on healing, Ash had trained his control over dual elements, and this was the perfect moment to test that control under real combat pressure.
In just a few seconds, he arrived before the high-ranking spirits guarding the corrupted heart. Without waiting, he slashed forward.
-Slash!
The barrier they had created—woven from a mix of multiple elements—split almost effortlessly under his swing.
It looked as if it would break entirely, but then the flow of mana around his sword distorted and wavered unnaturally.
Ash looked at the spirit responsible for this.
Space spirit...
A spirit with mastery over space. Far superior to his current control. That alone had been enough to halt his advance mid-swing.
But the real strike was still coming.
The rain of life swords behind him finally caught up, and with thunderous speed, they crashed into the corrupted defense.
The lower-ranked and mid-ranked spirits standing close to the heart were completely annihilated. As for the high-ranked ones—they were severely injured, their corrupted bodies flickering under the strain.
Even the peak-ranked spirits suffered minor damage.
Ash moved again.
This time, his blade was wrapped in concentrated life mana. Unlike before, this energy had a natural suppressive effect against the corruption.
The attack weakened the barrier slightly more—but not enough.
Suddenly, his figure blinked, vanishing from where he was in mid-air and reappearing at an odd angle.
It looked as if he were walking down an invisible staircase in the sky, but in reality, he had stepped directly onto the surface of the barrier itself.
{Step of Verdiction}
As the runes flared beneath his boots, a burst of life energy surged into the soles of his feet. The very moment he stepped down onto the barrier, the force was immense.
The sound that followed was like a giant hammer smashing into fragile glass.
BOOM!!!
The barrier cracked and shattered beneath him, opening a path toward the heart.
***
[Serena POV]
Her eyes widened in pure shock and disbelief.
He’s using Life Magic... but how is that even possible?
Her thoughts were thrown into complete disarray. So much so, she forgot everything for a moment—forgot her role, forgot her purpose, forgot even where she was.
The demonic spirits, however, did not stop their attacks. They continued to pound on the Green Lotus barrier she had cast.
But despite the intensity of their assault, the shield still stood firm. The mana stone embedded in her staff continued to drain steadily, supplying the lotus with the energy it needed to keep her protected.
What kind of spell was that just now...? I’ve never seen anything like it recorded in any of the ancient texts we translated together. And the way he formed so many swords purely from Life Energy while moving at such speed...
That’s not something anyone can do. And wasn’t he a swordsman? Then how is he able to use magic like that too? I thought the teleportation and concealment techniques he was using were skills—but could it all have been magic?
Just who is he, really...?
Her thoughts spiraled further, colliding with each other in chaos and confusion. The more she questioned, the less she understood.
But a thunderous sound echoed through the entire space, snapping her out of her daze.
Ash had shattered the barrier. The one protecting the demonic heart. It was gone—broken to pieces.
What am I doing?
I need to regain focus. I can question everything after this is over. Right now, I have a role to play—and I must fulfill it, no matter what.
With renewed determination, she swung her staff forward.
I have to support him. I have to attract more of the spirits away from him so he can move freely.
"Nature’s Wrath."
The spell triggered instantly, and thick, thorn-covered vines exploded from the cracked and corrupted ground. They writhed and surged toward the demonic spirits near Ash, entangling their limbs and wrapping around their bodies.
The vines powered by life mana gripped them tightly, piercing through their forms with sharp thorns and binding their movements.
Ash’s reached the ground at the exact same moment. The impact sent visible cracks through the earth beneath him. Without pausing, he pushed forward again, his swords now gleaming with the radiant energy of Life Mana.
He accelerated like a streak of lightning cutting through the darkness, slashing at every corrupted spirit in his path. In the blink of an eye, he had closed the gap—only ten meters separated him from the demonic heart.
And then it happened.
The demonic heart pulsed violently, its beat echoing through the air like a drum of death. Each throb released a deep, rhythmic thrum that shook the ground beneath their feet, and in the very next instant, a tidal wave of corrupted energy burst out in all directions.
It surged like a flood, drowning the air in overwhelming darkness, tainting everything it touched with the stench of decay.
But Ash did not stop moving.
Without wasting a breath, he lifted the sealing dagger, its edge glowing faintly with a soft yet powerful light.
Although it would consume a portion of the mana stored inside, it doesn’t matter.....
As the demonic wave roared toward him, he swung the blade with precise timing. A portion of the life mana stored within the dagger was used instantly, and a brilliant arc of life energy extended from its edge.
The arc did not clash with the wave. It sliced through it.
Like a stream of clean wind splitting through foul smoke, the life energy carved a clear path through the corrupted surge, parting it to the sides. The darkness recoiled, pushed away as if it feared being touched by that light.
But the danger was far from over.
From the shattered fragments of corrupted essence, several of the dead demonic spirits began to stir once again.
Their broken forms started to pull themselves back together. The demonic energy wrapped around them like a cocoon, slowly rebuilding their bodies and granting them form once again.
However, not all of them returned.
And Ash saw it clearly.
Only the ones killed by normal attacks are being revived. The ones destroyed with pure Life Mana... they’re not coming back.
That single observation planted a seed of understanding in his mind, a crucial advantage that could change the flow of the battle.
But just as he was about to press forward again, a voice echoed out.
"Who... is... it... this... time?"
It was not just a sound—it was a presence. Cold and piercing, the voice echoed across the corrupted air like a whisper made of ice. It carried a terrifying chill that could shatter the will of most.
Even Serena, who had been maintaining her focus until now, froze in place the moment she heard it.
Her eyes widened in fear, her breath caught in her throat. That voice pierced her heart like a dagger, shaking her down to her soul.
The aura that now surrounded the demonic heart was suffocating, unlike anything she had ever felt. It wasn’t just power—it was a twisted will, a consciousness that stared back at her with malice.
In the next second, her vision blurred.
The fear gripped her mind, and before she could even try to resist, her body locked up. Her staff trembled in her hand, and her consciousness was pulled inward.
She was falling—falling not physically, but mentally.
She had been dragged into her fear.
***